In November, my husband and I were able to travel to the Washington, DC area to visit family and friends. I was immediately struck by the number of trees. They were hard to miss since they were in their full fall display. But they seemed to be everywhere: in the suburban areas we visited, between towns, and even in the more urban areas where we saw striking Ginkgo biloba trees. In contrast to our area, the frequent rains and numerous creeks obviously gave enough water to support this lush arboreal landscape.
And where there are deciduous trees in autumn, there are falling leaves. There were leaves at every turn: piles of leaves, drifts of leaves, and banks of leaves. Inside the Alexandria Virginia city hall, was a bin offering landscaper sized brown paper leaf bags for free pick up. The bin was labeled with the admonition that there was a 15-bag limit per person. And when we visited, there were still just as many leaves left on the trees as were on the ground.
We were fortunate to have a friend take us to Brookside Gardens located in Wheaton Regional Park in Wheaton, Maryland. This garden was founded in 1969 and encompasses 50 acres. It is a beautiful place filled with walking paths, water features, a conservatory, numerous specialty gardens and indoor and outdoor classrooms.
The conservatory was having its autumn display featuring Chrysanthemums. I had never seen exhibition style Chrysanthemums before. Some were massive blossoms with each petal looking like piped on frosting. Others were ethereal like Chrysanthemum ‘Seaton's Galaxy' which was a type of spider Chrysanthemum. It was a world away from our standard nursery Chrysanthemums.
As we continued our tour, we came upon Reflection Terrace. This was a solemn but lovely memorial to the 10 local victims of the Beltway shootings in 2002. In another part of the garden, we passed by a strange looking tree. Its remaining leaves looked like a Liquidambar, but it had corky deposits along all its branches but none on its trunk. The deposits on its branches reminded me of the trunk on a Cork Oak. We searched around a bit and finally found a label, Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Corky'. This tree is native to the East Coast inUSDA Zone 5 areas, but apparently can grow in Zones 6-9.
I truly enjoyed this tranquil place. I would love to see how it looks in other seasons. We came across a team doing a massive planting of spring flowering bulbs, which I am sure will be very impressive. I also appreciated the fact that the gardens host Master Gardeners for plant clinics, 3 days a week, from April to November. It would certainly be an amazing place to get those volunteer hours.